William b



March 22, 1927- BASTIAN QUICK THROW THERMOSTAT VALVE Filed May 11. 1.926f) all!" 11mm mw llllhb flQ/AME BALST/A/V Patented Mar. 22, 1927.

UNETE STATS Leta eraivr Ff iC.

WILLIAM B. BASTIAN, OF LQS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA...

QUICK-THROW THERMOSTAT VALVE.

Application filed m 11,

My invention relates to automatic quick throw valves and moreparticularly to thermostatically operated quick throw valves.

Various forms of automatic water heaters are in use at present for thepurpose of providing a ready supply of hot water in residences and otherbuildings. One common form of automatic water heater tomprises a hotwater reservoir tank, a gas burner for heating the water in the tank, avalve for controlling the supply of gas to the burner, and a thermostatby which the' gas supply is turned on when the temperature of the waterfalls below a certain point and which turns ofl thegas when the waterhas been heated above a certain temperature.

One of the chief difficulties experienced with this form of automaticwater heater is in the functioning of the thermostatically operatedvalve. Many of these valves have been found to open slowly, for thefirst portion of their throw, at least, thus tausing gas to flow fromthe burner for a short period of time at a less rate than necessary forthe gas to be ignited by the pilot flame. This gas forms an explosivemixture in the burner chamber which either escapes into the surroundingatmosphere causing an obnoxious .odor or, as has happened in many cases,it explodes, damaging the heater and setting fire to the house. Anotherundesirable result is that very often the flame will backfire and ignitein the mixing chamber, thus producing a flame which has practically noheat. This gas leakage due to slow opening of the burner valve istherefore not only wasteful but obnoxious and exceedingly dangerous.

It is an object of my invention to provide a novel quick throw valveunit which will move between open and closed position in a single quickmovement, thus immediately allowing a full fiow of fuel.

Most of the thermostatically operated quick throw valves as nowmanufactured are not only inefficient but are complicated, thus beingsubject to disorders and expensive to.

make.

It is another object to provide a simple thermostatically operated quickthrow valve which has a small number of moving parts and is inexpensiveto produce.

It is another object of my invention to provide a very simple quickthrow valve in which a ball valve is operated by the constriction'of agarter spring upon the spherithe quick throw thermostatic 1926. SerialNo. 108,248.

cal surface thereof, the valve not being likely to get out of order.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a novel thermostaticvalve operating mechanism. I

Other objects and advantages of my inyention will be made manifest in'the follow mg description and the accompanying drawing in which:

. Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view illustrating an automaticwater heater with which my invention is incorporated.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 andillustrating valve of my invention. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary viewcorrespondmg to a portion of Fig. 2 and illustrating the valve ofmyinvention in open position.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 44 of F ig. 2.

, Referring specifically to the drawing, Fig. 1 shows an automaticheater 10 which has a hot water reservoir tank 11. This tank 11 iscylindrical in form and supported in upright position by a frame (notshown). The tank 11 has a head 13 at the upper end there of and a floorplate 14 positioned in the lower end thereof, the head and floor membersbeing secured to the tank 11 so as to form a tight hot water chamber 15.i The head 13 and floor plate 14 are centrally apertured and a flue 16is secured at opposite ends to the head 13 and the floor 11 so as tocommunicate with these apertures. A water heating retort 18 is disposeda short distance from the lower mouth of the flue l6.

' This retort is in the form of a metal casting cored out to form acentral enclosed cavity with the lower portion of Which a cold Waterpipe 19 COIIIIGLtS. The pipe 19 leads doWn-. ward and by suitableconnections reverses in direction so as to enter the floor 14, as

indicated at 20, to communicate with the lower end of the hot waterchamber 15.- A hot water pipe 22 is threadedly received in the upper endof the retort 18, passes upward through the flue 18 and, reversing indirection at the upper end of the tank 11, passes downward through thehead 13 communicating with the upper end of the hot water chamber 15.Disposed about that portion of the cold water pipe 19 which connectswith the retort 18 is a gas burner24.

Formed integrally with the gas burner 24 is a gas and air mixer 25through which a mixture of gas and air may be fed to the burner 24. Athreaded opening 26 is formed in the floor 14 in which thethermostatically operated valve 28 of my invention is screwed.

This thermostatically operated valve 28 has a housing 30 which has abody portion 31 in which is formed a tightly enclosed gas chamber 32.Access to this chamber 32 is had by removing a plate 32 which is securedto the body 31 by screws 32". A sup porting neck 33 is formed upon theupper wall of the housing body 31 and rises upward, as shown in Figs. 1and 2, being pro vided with external threads 34 at the upper end thereofsuitable for tight threaded en gagement with the threads formed in theopening 26. The neck 33 has an internal longitudinal cavity 35 openingfrom the gas chamber 32. The cavity 35 is restricted at the upper end ofthence]; to form a threaded opening 36 Threadedly received in theopening 36 is the lower end of a thermostatic element 37. Thisthermostatic element has a copper tube 38 which is threaded into thehole 36'at the lower end and which threadedly receives a plug 40 at theupper end thereof. As shown in Fig. 1, the tube 38 passes upward aconsiderable distance in the hot water chamber 15 above the bottom 14 ofthe water heater 10. Screwed into a threaded aperture formed centrallyin the plug 40 is a steel rod 42. This rod extends downward from theplug 40, through the interior of the tube 38, through the neck 33, intothe gas chamber 32 where it terminates at a pointed lower end 44, for apurpose which will be described later. i/

A gas inlet pipe is provided in the.

- ing body 31, at the opposite end of the body 31 from the neck 33, andprojecting from the body in an opposite direction than this neck. Thegas outlet pipe 46 is provided with a shoulder 50 which compresses agasket 51 against the wall 48 forming a tight seat between the pipe 46and the wall 48 when the pipe 46 is screwed tightly into the threadedopening 47. The gas outlet pipe 46 has a valve seat projection 53 whichprojects a slight distance upwardinto the gas chamber 32. A valve seat54 is formed in the upper end of the projection 53 and communicates withthe opening 55 of the outlet pipe 46. The outlet pipe 46extends downwardfrom the shoulder 50 and is bent to form a horizontal portion 56 whichis disposed directly beneath the gas and air mixer 25 of the burner 24.A nozzle 57 is provided upon the horizontal ortion 56 of the pipe 46 ina suitable position for directing gas upward into thevgas and a1r mixer25. A. gas cock 58 is provided in the end of the horizontal pipe portion56, by the turning of which the flow of gas through the pipe portion 56to the nozzle 57 may be shut off.

A stuffing box 60 is formed in the lower wall 48 at, the opposite end ofthe body 31 from the opening 47 therein' The stufling box is integrallyformed with the body 41 and communicates with a threaded opening 61Which is adapted to receive the threaded stem 62 of a fulcrum screw 63which has a thumb wheel 64 secured integrally upon the outer end of thestem- The stem 62 pro jects upward into the chamber 32 and has a fiatface 65 at its inner end. A central izing pin 68 centrally projects fromthe faLe 65 of the fulcrum adjusting screw 63.

A lever 70 is adapted to be disposed in the gas chamber 32 and extendsnearly from one end to the other thereof. At one end of this lever aboss 71 is formed to project downward therefrom so that a knife fulcrumedge 72 rests in contact with the face 65 of the fulcrum screw 63. Ahole 73 is formed in the lever 70 on the line of the knife edge 72 toreceive the pin 68 and retain the knife edge 72 in engagement with theface 65. An indentation 74 is formed in the upper face of the lever '70a short distance longi-.

tudinally inward from the position of the knife edge 72, thisindentation being adapted to receive the pointed end 44 of the rod 42 sothat a downward pressure may be exerted by the rod 42 upon the lever 7O.

The opposite end of the lever 70 from the fulcrum 72 has an enlargedportion 78 which has a central aperture 7 9 vertically formed therein.The enlarged portion 78 is also split horizontally by a slot 80- Thecentral aperture 79 is so formed as to be disposed above the valve seat54 and to be moved through a definite arcuate path during a rocking ofthe lever 70 about the fulcrum 7a. A spherical ball valve member 82 isadapted to be disposed within the opening 7 9 during this rocking of thelever 7 O and is therefore restricted to that arcuate path. The ball 82and the valve seat projection 53 unite to'form a ball valve 83. A garterspring 84 is adapted to be disposed in the slot 80 so as to encompassthe spherical valve member 82 and to exert a constricting resilientpressure against this member. The lever 70 has a downward projection 85formed on the lower fa:e thereof so as to be disposed slightly inwardfrom the enlarged llll) liZt) portion 78. This projection 85 is adaptedvto receive the "upper end of a compressionmenses upper face of the wall48 directly beneath the mean position of the hole 90, and a threadedhole 93 is :tormedfln the upper wall of the housing body 31 in verticalalignment with the recess 92 A lever guide member 95 is provided withthreads so as to be threadedly received in the hole 93. The guide member95 has a pin portion 96 which projects downward through the hole 90 soas to be seated at its lower end in the recess 92. I

The operation of my invention is as follows:

In the automatic water heater it is de sired to maintain the water inthe hot water chamber at a temperature slightly below boiling. Theheating of this water is accoi plished by gas mixed with air in the gasand air mixer and ignited as it flows from the burner 24 by a pilotflame supplied at the tip of a pilot gas pipe 100 which has a valvedconnection with the gas supply pipe 15 as shown in Fig. 1. in order forgas to be supplied to the burner 24 the spherical valve member 82 mustbe disposed away from the valve seat 54 in open position as shown inFig. 3. ll fhen the valve member 82 is in this position, gas from thesupply main passes into the gas chamber 32 and between the valve member82 and the valve seat 5-1 into the outlet pipe opening 55. Gas thusflows through the pipe 46 and is emitted therefrom through the nozzle 57into the gas and air mixer 25. The flame proceeding upward from theburner .24 heats the retort 18 from which heated water moves upwardthrough the pipe 22 forming a thermosiphonic cirof the tank 11. When thehot water thus advancing downward covers a portion of the copper tube 38of the thermostatic element 37, the thermostatic element 37 causes thevalve member 82 to be seated upon the valve seat 54 as illustrated inFig. 1 and in a man ner which will be described later.

As the hot water is used through a service pipe 102 provided at theupper end of the tank 11, or as the" water in the hot water chamber 15cools oil by radiation the water in the lower end of the tank 11, inwhich the thermostatic element 37 is disposed, becomes cool. With thisdecrease in temperature the copper tube 38 or" the thermostatic element37 contracts, thus causing a decrease in length. A steel rod 42 on theinside of the thermostatic element 37 also decreases in length with thisdecrease in temperature, but, owing to the difierence in thecoeliicients'of expansion of the difierent metals of which the tube 38and the rod 42 are formedythe tube 38 contracts a greater amount thanthe rod 42. This causes the lower pointed end at the rod 412 to be slowland forcibly projected a slight distance cownward from the position inwhich it is shown in Fig. 2. This causes the enlarged end 7 8 of thelever to be moved downward from the position in which it is shown inFig. 2 to the position in which it is shown in Fig. 3. This causes thegarter spring 84: to be moved downward beyond the center of the ball 82.A resilient pressure of the garter spring 84, in a manner well known inthe art, now causes the ball 82 to be thrown quickly from the seat 5%into the position in which it is shown in Fig. 3. Here the upwardmovement of the ball 82 is limited by contact with the lower surface ofthe upper wall of the housing body 31. This movement of the ball 82opens the valve 83 and allows gas to pass from the supply main 45,through the chamber 32 and the outlet pipe 46 to the burner 24 in a flowof maximum rate. As this flow of gas at its maximum rate is mixed withair in the mixer 25 and is discharged from the burner 24, it at oncebursts into flame and is completely consumed, heating the water in theretort 18 and setting up the tl'iermosiphonic flow previously described.As the lower level of the hot water in the tanlr 11 moves downward thehot water surrounds a portion of the thcrn1o static element 37. Thisraises the temperature of the element 37 which causes a differentialexpansion of the copper tube 38 and the steel rod 42 resulting in theopposite effeet from that caused by their cooling as above described;that is, the heatin of the thermostatic element 37 results in t e lowerpointed end 44 of the steel rod 42 being drawn upward, which releasesthe lever 70 from the pressure of the rod 42. Thus released, the lever70 responds to the upper pressure of the compression spring 86 andswings upward into the position in which it is shown in Fig. 2. As thelever 70 thus swings upward, the garter spring 84 passes over thesurface of the ball 82 past the center thereof, thus causing a quickreturn of the ball 82 from its open position to its closed. position.The operation of the thermostatic valve, above described, is ior thepurpose'ot shuttin oil the gas when the water in the tank 11 as beenheated to a desired temperature-and turning on the gas when the waterhas cooled below a predetermined temperature. The exact range oftemperature over which it is desired that gas be supplied to the burner24 may be determined at will by manual rotation of the fulcrum screw 83.When the screw 83 is screwed inward the valve 83 is caused to open andclose at higher tem eratur'es and vice versa.

One of t e principal features of my invention is the simplicity of thestructure thereof, the fcwness and cheapness of the parts making up thisstructure, permitting the economical-manufacture of my thermostaticallyoperated quick throw valve.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a quick throw valve, the combination of: a spherical valve member;a valve seat upon which said member is adapted to rest; means forlimiting the, movement of said member from said seat; a garter springdisposed about said member; and means for shifting said garter springtowards and away from said valve seat.

2. In a quick throw valve, the combination of: a spherical valve member;a valve seat upon which said member is adapted to rest; means forlimiting the movement of said member from said seat; a garter springdisposed about said member; means for shiftingsaid garter spring towardsand away from said valve seat; and thermostatic means for operating saidshifting means.

3. In a quick throw valve, the combination of: a spherical valve member;a valve seat upon which said member is adapted to rest; means forrestricting said member to movement ina given path; means for limitingthe movement of said member from said seat; a garter spring, disposedabout said member; and means for shifting said garter spring towards andaway from said valve seat.

4. In a quick throw valve, the combination of: a spherical valve member;a valve seat upon which said member is adapted to rest; means forrestricting said member to movement in a given path; means for limitingthe movement of said member from said seat; a garter spring disposedabout said member; means for shifting said garter spring towards andaway from said valve seat; and thermostatic means for operating saidshifting means.

5. In a quick throw valve, the combination of: a housing providing agas-tight chamber therein; agas inlet, opening through said housing intosaid chamber; a gas outlet,

opening through said housing from said chamber; a valve seat provided insaid chamher to communicate with said outlet; a spherical valve memberadapted to rest upon said valve seat; a garter spring for moving saidspherical member to and from said seat; and means for operating saidgarter spring. v a

6. In a quick throw valve, the combination of a housing providing a gastight chamber therein; a gas inlet, opening through said housing intosaid chamber; a gas outlet, opening through said housing from saidchamber; a valve seat provided in said charm-v ber to communicate withsaid outlet; a spherical valve member adapted to rest upon said valveseatfa garter spring for moving said spherical member to and from saidseat and a lever for operating said garter spring.

7. In a quick throw valve, the combination of: a housing providing agas-tight chamber therein; a gas inlet, opening through said housinginto said chamber; a gas outlet, opening through said housing from saidchamber; a valve seat provided in said chamber to communicate with saidoutlet; a spherical valve 'member adapted to rest upon said valve seat;a garter spring for moving said spherical member to and from said seat;a lever for operating said garter spring; and thermostatic means formoving said lever.

8. In a quick throw valve, the combination of: a housing providing agas-tight chamber therein; a gas inlet opening through said housing intosaid chamber; a gas outlet, opening through said housing from saidchamber; a valve seat provided in said chamber to communicate with saidoutlet; a spherical valve member adapted to rest upon said valve seat; agarter spring for moving said spherical member to and from said seat; alever for operating said garter spring; thermostatic means for movingsaid lever; and means for determining the temperatures at which saidthermostatic means will move said lever sufliciently to cause saidgarter spring to operate said valve member.

9. In a quick throw valve, the combination of: a housing providing agas-tight chamber therein; a gas inlet, opening through said housinginto said chamber; a gas outlet, opening through said housing from saidchamber; a valve seat provided in said chamber to communicate with saidoutlet; a spherical valve member adapted to rest upon said valve seat; aarter spring for moving said spherical mem er to and from said seat;

a lever for operating said garter spring;

thermostatic means for moving said lever; and resilient means tending tomove said lever against the tendency of said thermostatic means.

10. In a quick throw valve, the combination of: a. housing providing agas-tight chamber therein; a gas inlet opening through said housinginto'said chamber; a gas outlet, opening through said housing from saidchamber; a valve seat provided in said chamberto communicate with saidoutlet; a spherical valve member adapted to rest upon said valve seat; agarter spring for moving said spherical member to and fromsaid seat;

a lever for operating said garter spring;

